Thread guide mechanism



Dec. 16, 1952 w PE 2,621,862

THREAD GUIDE MECHANISM Filed May 3, 1950 a? I?? fa Patented Dec. 16, 1952 THREAD GUIDE MECHANISM Winthrop Perry; Milford, N. H.. assignor, by

mesne assignments; to

Incorporated, Wilton,

New Hampshire Abbott Worsted Mills, N. H., a corporation of Application-May s, 1950', SerialNo. 159,778

1 Claim; 1:

This invention relates tothread guide mechanism for" textile winding machines: in which a thread guide has a progressive advance, length wis'e of thewinding bobbin, sothat the zone of traverse isprogressively advanced" lengthwise; to produce the typical filling wind,

This general type of mechanism is shown in U. S". Patent No. 2,377,367 and an improved construction of thread guide assembly carrying a sliding feeIer isv show-n inFigs, 5 to '7: inclusive of-U. S. PatentNo. 2,426,167;

The invention is especially concerned" with the feel'er portion of the thread guide assembly. As in Patent: No. 2,426,167 the feeler hereinafter described is slidable endwise in the thread guide assembly, the inner end of the feeler being engageable with the yarn or thread on the winding bobbinand the outer end of the feeler being engageable with aprofile element in the form of a rack, to control progression of the thread guide assembly along the bobbin.

As the feeler is slidendwise by contact of its inner end" with the growing body of threadon the bobbin, its outer end is moved into engagement with the rack. This detains the thread guide against movement toward the base of the winding bobbin, resultingin-a slight relative shift as between the thread guide assembly and a reciprocating traverse rod by which the thread guide assembly isfrictionally driven Repeated many times during the winding of the'bobbin; this slight relative shift ofthe thread guide assembly relative to thetraverse rod causes the thread guide assembly to progress from the base end to the tip end of the winding bobbin, in conformity with production of the filling type of winding;

Among the objects of the invention are toprovide the slidable feeler with improved" bearing surfaces where it bears on the thread guide assembly, so as to lengthen the life of; the thread guide assembly in which the feeler slides; toimprove the strength of the feeler, particularly as to the'mounting of ahardenedsteel insert adapt- 8611701 engage the rack; to simplify the. structure of". the inner threadsengaging end. of thev feeler and insure. true straightnes of the body of the feeler; to. improve" the ease of removal and insertion of the feeler in the thread guide assem bly; and to accomplish these several objects by means of a construction having such low weight and inertia as to be accurately sensitive to growth of the: winding package.

Other objects of the invention and advantageous features will be apparent from this specification and. its accompanying drawing in which 2. the invention is explained by description of a preferred example thereof.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of'a thread guide-assembly; including the feeler;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the lineZ-Z of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3, to a larger scale'than Figs. 1 and 2 isa perspective vi ew'of the feeler, shown separately;

Fig. 4-is a left side elevation of the'threa'd' guide assembly; showing the outer or rack-engaging end of the feeler; and

Fig. 5' is a right side elevation of the thread guide assembly, showing the inner or thread-en'- a ing end of the feeler;

As in Patent No. 2,426,167 the thread T is distributed by means of a thread guide assembly, indicated generally at 9, onto a rotating winding bobbin B held between opposed centers, the outer centerb'eing' shown at 3 l.

The thread guide assembly 9 which is frictionally connected to a reciprocating traverse ro'd 20fli's shown as" including an upper plate SI and a lower plate 62 connected by vertical end pieces 63, B4 of fiber-composition material which frictionally engage the reciprocating traverse rod 20. The thread guide assembly also includes a tubu' lar element 65 of fiber-composition material wrapped around the traverse rod 20 and compressive'ly' held in frictional engagement therewith by an inwardly'pressing spring jacket 66.

Thread T runs from the thread. supply up through an outer eye 61 in the upper plate Gl', thence over the plate 6| through an inner eye 68 and thence down through the eye 68 onto the winding bobbin.

A rearwardly' extending portion of the upper plate 6| carries a guide block 10 which is sli'da'ble beneath a guide bar 12, preventing the thread guide assembly from rotating around the reciprocating traverse rod 20.

The lower plate 62 is provided with downturned portions 62 and 62 which are recessed to receive the slidable feeler IS-having the novel construction hereinafter described. As in Patent No. 2,426,167 the feeler is yieldingly urged to the right and it inner end is adaptedto engage the growing body of wound thread on the bobbin. As the thread guide assembly moves inits short stroke of traverse toward the base end of the bobbin, the fe'eler is slid-able outwardly to the left by this contact with the body of thread; so as to bring the outer or left end of the feeler in Figs; 1 and" 2 into contact with one of the teeth of a fixed. rack: or" ratchet bar element 1-8. This engagement of the feeler and element 18 detains the thread guide against movement toward the base of the winding bobbin, allowing the traverse rod 20 to shift slightly relative to the thread guide assembly, thus controlling the progressive advance of the thread guide assembly along the traverse rod in accordance with the desired size and shape of the thread package on the bobbin.

The rack I8 does not interfere with movement of the thread guide assembly in the direction of the tip of the winding bobbin because the feeler 15 is yieldingly urged to disengage the rack, and so disengages the rack as soon as the thread guide assembly starts its motion toward the tip of the winding bobbin.

The feeler 15 of this present invention, shown separately in Fig. 3 is formed from a straight bar of cold drawn steel of approximately square cross section. The recesses in downturned portions 62 and 62 in which the feeler slides are correspondingly of square shape, for an easy sliding fit.

When the inner end of the feeler contacts with the rotating bobbin, the rotation of the bobbin applies an upward force to the inner end of the feeler and the sliding feeler therefore reacts forcibly upwardly against the inner downturned portion 62 The relatively wide smooth plane top 15 of the feeler affords a good bearing surface adapted to run easily and without exerting a vertical cutting or sawing action upon the downturned portion 62 To promote continued smooth running, the portion 62 is struck out above and below the feeler to form horizontal flanges 62 and 62 thus increasing the bearing surfaces afforded by the portion 62 When the inner end of the feeler contacts with the rotating bobbin, the feeler also reacts forcibly sidewise toward the left in Fig. 5, against the left side of the downturned portion 62 The smooth, relatively wide plane side face 15 of the feeler facing the tip of the bobbin, as indicated in Fig. 2, affords a good bearing surface adapted to run smoothly and preclude a horizontal cutting or sawing action upon portion 62 The outer or rack-engaging end of the feeler is cut away through a portion only of its lateral thickness, inwardly from the long vertical side facing the observer in Fig. 3, that is, from the side opposite to the direction of progression toward the tip of the bobbin, this cutting away forming a step having a fiat vertical face. A vertically disposed hardened steel rack-engaging insert '15 occupies the cut-away portion and is soldered in face to face relation to the step. The insert is thus strongly backed by the remaining lateral thickness of the mild steel body of the feeler lying behind it in Fig. 3, and is so strengthened and enabled to resist the shock of rapid engagement with the rack. The relatively large area of the surface of the step backing the insert Hi moreover enables a secure joint to be made between the insert and the step, with this joint in the best position to withstand the stress imposed by the blows that are received by the insert.

The inner or bobbin-engaging end of the feeler instead of being bent to provide a suitable area for contact with the conical nose of the bobbin as in Patent No. 2,426,167, is simply milled off, generally semi-cylindrically, to provide a smooth curved thread-engaging surface. This avoidance of bending the end is advantageous in avoiding any danger of introducing any bend into the main body portion of the feeler. The curved thread-engaging surface being obtained by mere milling away of the rectangular stock from which the feeler is made, without bending, the inner end of the feeler thus lies wholly within the longitudinal projection of the main body portion of the feeler, and does not have any laterally extending hook-like portion such as employed in Patent No. 2,426,167. This avoids all risk of the thread catching behind the inner end of the feeler as the thread guide assembly is moved lengthwise after discharge of the wound bobbin.

It will be observed that the widthwise thickness of the feeler is very considerably greater than that of the feeler of Patent No. 2,426,167, to yield the improved smooth, plane top and bottom hearing surfaces, the improved manner of mounting the hardened steel insert at the outer end, and the improved non-bent thread-engaging inner end. This increase in thickness would ordinarily increase the inertia of the feeler to several times that of the feeler of Patent No. 2,426,167, but any such large increase is avoided by recessing the main body of the feeler along a substantial portion of its length, preferably as shown, from the insert F5 to near the inner curved end. The recessing is preferably from the vertical side face of the feeler opposite to the direction of progression, and preferably does not extend through to the opposite side face 15. A substantial portion of the length of the main body of the feeler thus forms a light U-shaped section, reducing the total weight of the feeler to near that of the feeler of Patent No. 2,426,167.

The feeler is yieldingly urged toward the bobbin by a coil spring 16 which abuts against the downturned portion 62. Instead of the inner end of this spring being distorted to engage into notches in edges of the feeler as in constructions similar to that shown in Patent No. 2,426,167, the inner end of the spring abuts against a washer I6 surrounding the feeler, the washer in turn abutting against a pin 76 which extends through vertical holes 16 in the upper and lower flanges of the feeler. The washer l6, partly broken away in Fig. 2, is cup-shaped, so that when the washer is held against the pin the circular flange of the washer supports and locks the pin in place. This construction has the advantages that the spring and feeler can be inserted in place Without special tools, and that the spring is not injured by its removal but can be reused.

A feeler 15 made according to the present invention can be used in conjunction with the invention described in the United States patent application filed on the same date as this present application, by Samuel L. Abbott, as executor of Edward J. Abbott, deceased, for Winding Machine, now Patent No. 2,566,299 dated September 4, 1951. In said application filed by said Abbott, the feeler is frictionally engaged by a springpressed feeler-restoring member having only a short movement between the downturned portions 62 and 62 and the feeler is moved by such feeler-restoring member through a considerably shorter distance than the feeler is moved by the spring 16 as illustrated in this present application, with considerably less contact between the feeler and the conical nose of the growing package.

I claim:

A winding machine bobbin feeler adapted for endwise sliding movement relative to a reciprocatcd thread guide assembly, for engagement of the inner end of the feeler with the thread on the winding bobbin and engagement of the outer end of the feeler with an element to control progression of the thread guide assembly along the bobbin, the feeler comprising a member having throughout the main portion of its length a cross section conforming to an approximate square except for a recess in said feeler extending into the outline of such square from u. lateral side of the feeler partially but not wholly to the opposite lateral side thereof, the feeler lying wholly within the longitudinal projection of such square and having a rounded thread-engaging inner end surface and including at said lateral side of its outer end an insert of harder material vertically disposed face to face with a stepped portion of said member and backed by remaining lateral thickness of material of said member.

WINTHROP L. PERRY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

